Roasted Butternut Squash Sandwich

Fall in Canada is an interesting time for someone who has lived south of the border. While the leaves change colour in Southern Ontario roughly the same time as in New England, seasonal celebrations begin much earlier given that Thanksgiving is observed in October – a whole month before the folks down in the U.S. This means that the smell of cinnamon in the air, the sights of bright orange pumpkins, and the folksy sounds of local farm activity start much earlier.

We picked up some butternut squash last week on a quick grocery run – without a specific plan on how to use it. Sure, we could go the conventional direction of a heart warming bowl of butternut squash soup. Funnily enough, Diwali was around the same time, so last week was brutal in terms of rich festival food at friends’ homes and edible goodies sent all the way from India by near and dear ones looking to loop us into their festivities. We cleansed our palate after a week full of binging with an incredibly light and flavourful squash and tea clear soup. While Pri only shaved the outer flesh of the squash for her tantalizing soup, she left the rest of it in the refrigerator, wrapped in terrible-for-the-environment clingwrap, constantly begging to be used.

The weekend had been a will-it-snow-or-will-it-rain type of painfully gloomy weather, but not cold enough to need a warm soupy embrace. After scrolling through pages and pages of butternut squash recipes (there’s only so many ways this winter squash can be used), I came across a breezy recipe for a roasted garlic and butternut squash grilled cheese sandwich. Now, I’m a glutton for kitchen experimentation, and the thought of a sweet yet smoky sandwich appealed to me instantly. However, Pri gets most of her life’s energy from a healthy dose of spice, so I needed to tread very carefully, lest this become a dessert sandwich – which oddly is a category Pri is well-versed in (her chocolate-black pepper-cheese sandwiches are extremely late-night-snack worthy).

I skinned the butternut squash, scooped out the seeds and guts, and diced the squash into inch-sized cubes, and tossed in some olive oil. I crushed a little coarse sea salt and cracked some pepper to cut away some of the sweetness of that squash. Meanwhile, I sliced the top off of a pod of garlic and similarly drizzled some olive oil and wrapped it in foil. After dumping both in the oven at 375F for about 35 minutes, I began brainstorming toppings for the sandwich. The idea was to puree the roasted squash and garlic till spreadable. Obviously, I’d need some heat to counter that, and digging through the refrigerator yielded no jalapenos, so I settled for some brined pepperoncini – which Pri usually confuses for banana peppers!! Now, I like my grilled cheese stringy, so I grated some fresh mozzarella to bind everything together and brought out some boxed salad leaves for a bit of crunch.

Finally, I assembled the toppings like a lazy Sunday afternoon game of Jenga, buttered the thick-cut sourdough bread, and grilled the sandwich till golden brown and gooey. Not satisfied with my ability to properly activate her spice-heavy palate, Pri added some sumac (!) to her sandwich for an added bit of tang, but lunch was deemed a successful affair!

AuthorNihal

RatingDifficultyBeginner